


Shorter's Mini Doughnuts

by ealain_rey, hyakuyatats



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Everyone is in university, I love my boys so much, M/M, They are so cute, a Really Really soft au, except sing lmao hes in high school, no libraries here oop, they are safe and happy in this one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-22 17:06:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16602065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ealain_rey/pseuds/ealain_rey, https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyakuyatats/pseuds/hyakuyatats
Summary: In which Sing really really really likes the doughnut machine at Shorter's Mini Doughnuts.And Eiji really really really likes the blonde boy who works at Shorter's Mini Doughnuts.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this idea was based on a Tru Story : me being lowkey obsessed w/ the doughnut machine at a kiosk near my house and my gf and i going all "being obsessed with the doughnut machine is such Big Sing Energy" so we just Had to write it HAHA.
> 
> also just to clarify (like stated in the tags), everyone in this fic is in university, except Sing HAHA. Shorter and Eiji are juniors (20 years old), Ash is a sophomore (19 years old), Yut Lung is a freshman (18 years old) and Sing is a high school senior (17 years old).

**[03:14] doughnut disciple**

_he's here._

 

**[03:15] doughnut JESUS ;D**

_?_

_who_

_doughnut boi???_

 

**[03:16] doughnut disciple**

_yes_

_he's at it again_

 

**[03:18] doughnut JESUS ;D**

_lmfao leave the boi alone_

 

**[03:19] doughnut disciple**

_i’m just so confused. why does he do this?_

 

**[03:21] doughnut JESUS ;D**

_stop texting on the job lynx im gona fire u_

 

**[03:22] doughnut disciple**

_i’m allowed to text when there aren't any customers_

 

**[03:24] doughnut JESUS ;D**

_but u txt me all the time???_

_Wait._

_RUDE ASS XDDDD_

 

Ash pocketed his phone. Despite bantering with Shorter, and him being lax with it, he still respected his boss during work hours. Ash instead began his shift inventory to pass time, glancing ever so often to their most loyal patron (c _an he even call the kid that? He doesn't buy anything!_ ).

The kid was inside the shop's small space, staring at the tiny doughnuts cooking in the machine through the viewing glass.

A child of around seven years old came up and hoisted himself onto the semi bar stool in front of the machine. He settled himself beside the older boy and pressed his face against the glass. The two seemed completely in awe at how the tiny pieces of dough dropped and flipped over. Ash couldn't blame the child but he seriously wondered why the other kid, who was already in high school, judging by his uniform, came by every single day just to watch the doughnuts.

“One dozen of chocolate, please,” the lady in front of Ash, who he assumed was the child's mother, requested politely. Ash quickly got to work, scooping up some of the freshly fried doughnuts into a small paper bag and filling it with chocolate powder.

The child practically had to be dragged away from the stool by his mother after the doughnuts were bought. It was amusing, to say the least. It was always cute to see customers fascinated by the mini doughnut machine. The high schooler stayed, even when Ash shut the machine down and the doughnuts stopped cooking. 3 in the afternoon was quite a dead hour for their business but Ash was fine with that because he'd have to leave for his 4:30 lecture as soon as Shorter got out of his own class and took over.

Around half an hour of silence passed with only one other customer coming in. After the customer had left, the high school boy settled into one of the small tables by the couch, textbook opened as he furiously scribbled onto it. His tongue was peeking out the corner of his mouth in concentration. Ash found it quite endearing.

“Hey kid,” Ash heard himself call out, leaning against the counter with his head resting against his hand, elbow propped up against the surface. “What's your name?” He realized how terribly bored he must be to actually talk to the kid when he usually spoke as little as possible to the customers and was always more polite than friendly. It was Shorter who did that better anyway.

Then again, Ash still wasn't sure what to consider the kid since he literally had not bought a single doughnut from their shop ever since he started coming so he wasn't exactly a customer. He even recalled a time where he had walked in for his shift to see Shorter _feeding_ the kid doughnuts right off the pan. Ash had to warn his own boss not to keep feeding the kid because the doughnuts were their fucking business, not charity.

“Hey, did you even hear me—”

“Oh, sorry. What was that?”

The kid clicked his tongue, going back to writing on his textbook. “You go and ask my name like a creep then don't even listen?”

Ash felt his eye twitch out of irritation but he let it slide because the kid did have a point, but that didn't mean he was gonna admit it. He'd point out that he was sitting inside their shop without even having bought anything, and have been doing so for almost an entire week, but he figured that it didn't have any connection to what they were currently talking about so he decided not to be petty. He was a grown ass man who could control his retorts, thank you very much. 

“Sorry, kid. Just zoned out a bit. Mind repeating then?”

The kid looked up from his textbook to meet Ash's gaze before huffing and looking away again. “I'm not a kid..” he grumbled. “My name is Sing..”

They fell back into silence, this time a lot more awkward. _Great_ , Ash thought, _it’s up to me to break the ice._

“So Sing,” Ash hesitantly asked. “You like doughnuts or something?” he cringed internally at the question. It was stupid and a lot weirder than it sounded in his head and he might as well have driven their most frequent spectator out–

“Yeah, what’s it to you?” _the audacity of this kid._

 _'Oh, I don’t know, if you like them so much then maybe buy some for fucking once?’_ Ash bit his tongue. He was the adult here, he couldn't be petty. Yet.

Okay maybe he could be petty now.

“Nothing,” he smiled innocently, “just find it adorable how you and the kid earlier got matching expressions.”

As expected, Sing stood up abruptly, and stalked towards the counter. Ash merely raised an eyebrow, expression smug, as they both knew Sing took the bait.

“Woah, what’s with this stare down?”

They both looked up to the sound of the voice entering the shop.

Shorter sauntered to them, looking amused the entire time. “Did ‘ya finally give him some doughnuts?” he asked Ash.

Ash’s face crumpled, “I told you not to give them to him for free, Shorter!”

“This is why I like this guy better,” Sing grumbled, inching closer to Shorter. “Don’t be so stingy!” he yelled at Ash, who was taking his apron off.

“Listen here, Sing– ”

“Oh, cool! Your name’s Sing?” Shorter asked, taking the apron from Ash. He was way too cheerful for anyone who was just about to start their work shift. Even if he owned the place.

“Whatever. I gotta run,” Ash said hurriedly, grabbing his backpack from under the counter and glancing at his phone to check the time. He had 30 minutes to get to his lecture. It was still a lot of time considering the short distance to his university from the mall, but he didn't exactly want to rush.

“Shorter, don't give him free doughnuts!” Ash called out one last time before leaving the shop and making his way out the mall in quick strides.

He caught sight of a sleek black car by the main driveway as he exited, watching the driver get out and move around the other side to open the door. He snorted at how pretentious it was until he saw who had stepped out. Of course. Why hadn't he expected this?

 Lee Yut Lung, the youngest son in the family who owned the mall, stepped out, all suited up in his prep school uniform with his phone pressed against his ear.

“Sweetie, I already told you that I can't give out any of—”

“Are you seriously visiting your own mall, Lee?” Ash called out, smirk present on his lips.

The youngest Lee barely spared him a glace, only replying with a clipped, “Mind your own business, Callenreese.”

“Oi, don't call me by—”

Whatever Ash was about to say was drowned out by Yut Lung’s exasperated voice as he continued his phone call.

“You know, I've already told you this before but why don't you just go and buy something from there yourself?” he said exasperatedly into the phone before walking off, not even bothering to hear the rest of what Ash had to say.

Ash merely rolled his eyes as he continued his stride.

He always tried to avoid the habit of overgeneralizing things but when it came to the students from the prep school a few blocks down, Ash was a hundred percent sure they were all pretentious assholes. Exhibit A just having left a few moments ago. As much as Ash wanted to avoid all sorts of interaction with them, he couldn't, because the mall Shorter's doughnut shop was located in was practically a walking distance from the prep school (which is why Ash didn't understand the need for their expensive bitchass cars driving them over). Hell, Ash's own university was farther from the mall yet he walked to and from it multiple times every single day.

If it was any consolation for them, at least the prep school students didn't visit the shop much. Fuckers could afford actual sized doughnuts anyway and had no need for their precious mini doughnuts (which were a lot fucking better for a way cheaper price).

It was fine, their business was running quite well and they definitely didn't need any funding from some pretentious prep school boys. Everything was the way it should be.

 

**[04:09] doughtnut JESUS ;D**

[image attachment] 1 doughnut is so good -sing

[image attachment] oops typo *11 doughnuts

 

**[04:09] doughnut disciple**

i'm quitting

i hope you go bankrupt shorter


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, our plans of updating quick definitely went to shit. University has been eating us up so we're terribly sorry for that but nonetheless, here's chapter two. (As compensation for the delay, this is an extra 1k words more than the first chapter.)

“Please Yue?” Eiji tried his best to sweeten his tone, “I just want to know—“

“Sweetie,” Yut Lung’s tone was gentle yet exasperated. “I already told you that I can't give out any of—”

Suddenly Yut Lung’s voice muffled, and Eiji assumed he was talking to someone else on the other line. His best friend's resolve disappointed him but he was still determined. It wasn’t like he was gonna harass the guy, god he couldn’t even talk to him face to face, he just wanted to know his cell number and, maybe— you know?

It’s not like he was desperate ( _maybe?_ ) for the guy.

Which guy? Eiji was interested in the guy manning that obscure doughnut stall in Yut Lung’s mall, Shorter’s Mini Doughnuts. He would say that the shop had caught his attention just because they were mini doughnuts but he wouldn’t lie to himself.

It wasn’t the doughnuts that stole his attention.

The blond guy was— yeah.

Which brought him to his current predicament. He wanted to get the guy’s number, however Yut Lung, his best friend who was currently losing his status as ‘best’, refused to give him any such information.

“You know, I've already told you this before but why don't you just go and buy something from there yourself?” Yut Lung had asked exasperatedly, after he had finished talking to whoever he was talking to on the other end.

“Sorry are you busy there? I can call another time?”

Yut Lung scoffed, “No that wasn’t anyone important. Let’s get back to our topic, buy the doughnuts, Eiji. God, you’d think I was the older of us two.”

Eiji merely groaned in response.

That was how he found himself in his best friend's mall the next day, still in his PE uniform and wearing his favourite hoodie, in case he needed to hide his fidgeting hands. Or face. He probably should’ve made sure his face looked okay and maybe fixed his hair—

 _No_ , he grounded himself, _I’m just buying doughnuts. That’s it._

He managed one step towards the shop before he chickened out. He could almost hear Yut Lung’s nagging voice, ‘ _Eiji,_ sweetie _, the door’s right_ ** _fucking_** there.’ but he couldn’t care less.

Maybe tomorrow he’d have the courage.

He did not, in fact, have courage the next day, or the day after that, or the day after that.

Before he knew it, it had been a week and he had yet to step foot into the shop. It was driving both him and Yut Lung insane. His best friend was currently lounging on his office sofa, inside the mall, no less. Eiji was sat across him, already able to hear the scolding he was undoubtedly about to receive.

“So,” Yut Lung started slowly, sipping from his teacup. That alone made Eiji lowered his gaze.

Yut Lung exhaled harshly after seconds of Eiji being unresponsive to his silent inquiry, deciding to corner him by voicing it out loud, “Care to explain why there are _regular sized_ doughnuts right in front of us?”

“I—” Eiji’s throat suddenly felt drier than the Sahara, “thought you might want some?”

“Eiji, I’m lactose intolerant.”

“I, I panicked okay?! I was about to go in but, but then, then the guy— he just,”

Yut Lung cut him off abruptly. He was sure that Eiji wouldn't be saying anything coherent anytime soon anyway. “Listen here, you better man the fuck up or I am dragging you in there myself and it's gonna be embarrassing only for you,” he threatened, sporting a small frown.

Needless to say, Eiji found himself walking towards the mall again, come Monday. It was the start of a new week, which Yut Lung had claimed was the perfect opportunity to _buy some doughnuts_. He had said it so sweetly during their lunch break, but Eiji could feel the menace dripping from his tone, threatening him if he didn't manage to pull through today.

He took slow steps towards the doughnut shop, but it seemed that he wasn't slow enough because before he even noticed, he was already outside.

 

**[03:01] sweetie ♡**

i’m here now

 

**[03:02] Baby Snake ♡**

Good.

 

The tall blonde was visible from his spot by a post. He was scribbling something on a notepad, hunched down against the counter. There weren't any customers around and Eiji didn't know if he should be thankful that it would be just the two of them or not. All he knew was that he was terrifyingly nervous.

 

**[03:06] sweetie ♡**

i cant do it ㅠ ㅅ ㅠ

 

**[03:06] Baby Snake ♡**

Stop texting me. I’m in class.

 

**[3:08] sweetie ♡**

WE LITERALLY LEFT SCHOOL TOGETHER

 

**[3:11] sweetie ♡**

yue i’m so scared :ㄷ

 

**[3:15] sweetie ♡**

yut lung???

 

**[3:18] sweetie ♡**

i hate you

 

Ok, so no more moral support from his best friend. That was fine. Eiji was fine. He didn’t need Yut Lung. He took deep, calming breaths before finally deeming himself ready.

Just as he was about to step inside, a short boy walked in front of him, striding into the shop. His feet froze when he heard the blonde speak up.

“Hey kid, how're you? Was starting to worry when you stopped coming.”

Eiji hid behind the post, feeling his heart hammer through his chest as he continued to eavesdrop.

“Why? Missed me?” another voice resounded, undoubtedly belonging to the high schooler that just walked in. Eiji felt his face flush and a pang of jealousy strike him.

‘ _Who—?_ ’

“Maybe I did, what’s it to you?” the blonde cooed to the younger boy, who was rapidly becoming red in the face. Eiji felt himself bristling. Were they flirting?!

 

**[03:23] sweetie ♡**

Yut Lung.

 

**[03:24] Baby Snake ♡**

Yes?

 

**[03:24] sweetie ♡**

i

 

**[03:26] sweetie ♡**

i think i found myself a rival

 

**[03:27] Baby Snake ♡**

Serves you right.

 

**[03:30] Baby Snake ♡**

I’m sorry.

 

**[03:31] Baby Snake ♡**

For your loss.

lmao

 

Eiji stared at the screen, cheeks puffing in annoyance at Yut Lung's texts. Why was his best friend such an asshole?! He was about to type out an angry response before his ears picked up the blond’s voice again.

“Well, see you here tomorrow, kid,” he watched as the blonde slung his backpack over his shoulder and— _ruffled the kid's hair?!_ He left quickly, not noticing Eiji's presence at all. His stomach felt queasy as all the scenarios of them finally meeting that he had imagined vanished, all replaced with _‘Oh, sorry I’m already interested in someone else_ ’ and Eiji felt like cursing every god damn doughnut to exist in the world.

A new guy with a purple mohawk started his shift so Eiji didn’t bother to stay. He made his exit swiftly and discreetly, glancing at the phone in his hand before speed dialing his best friend.

Yut Lung picked up after the second ring. “Did you leave?” he asked, before Eiji could even get a word in. His best friend's voice didn’t ease the tight coil in his gut.

“He ruffled the kid’s hair.”

“Eiji, please. They might just be friends.”

“They have plans to meet tomorrow!” Eiji said frustratedly as he sat down on a nearby bench, “I clearly heard them make plans!” he repeated.

Yut Lung sighed on the other end, “Where exactly?”

“The shop.”

“Eiji,” Yut Lung’s voice turned saccharine, “Have you ever considered that they, oh I don’t know, are _friends_?”

He had a point, “But what if they aren’t?” Eiji asked with a groan, cradling his face with his free hand.

“You’re only allowed to whine until you’ve confirmed that they’re actually dating, which you will do tomorrow,” Yut Lung lectured from the other end, leaving no room for Eiji to decline. “Now go home because I bet you didn’t bother to stick around anyway.”

Eiji sighed, and Yut Lung spoke again before he could say anything, tone a lot softer, “Don’t think about it too much, okay? It’ll work out. There’s no point in worrying.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay, you’re right. Thanks, Yue.”

“Of course I’m right,” Yut Lung said, without skipping a beat. Eiji couldn’t help but snort. “ I have to go now but text me when you’re home, okay?”

“Okay,” was all Eiji could say before the line went dead. He took a few moments to remain seated on the bench, trying to convince himself of his best friend’s words. As much as he hated to admit it, Yut Lung was right 99% of the time.

Eiji should just trust his words, and in himself.

They left school together the next day, as usual, and Yut Lung had insisted that he would bring Eiji to the mall himself, which he did and had shoved him out of the car as soon as they stopped by the driveway.

“Go get ‘em, tiger,” his best friend had told him, smile too sweet, too fake, too _‘I am so sick of your shit, Eiji, please get it together,’_ which Eiji thought was a hundred percent valid because he too, was sick of his own shit at this point.

Yut Lung was waving with the window rolled down, smile still in place, as the car drove off. Eiji watched him go, bunching up his cardigan in his hands as his fingers twitched.

Inevitably, he started walking towards the shop, steps slow and mechanical with his entire body completely stiff. When the shop’s bright orange lights came into view, he decided he had to change his approach, lest he chickened out again and have Yut Lung all up in his shit later on.

He quickened his pace, going in straight for the kill. He strode into the shop and went right up the counter. Nearly all the breath was knocked out of his lungs as soon as the blonde boy was right in front of him, all too soon. He hadn’t even taken a look at the menu before deciding to open his mouth so he went with the most basic of flavors.

“Onedozenofvanillaplease—”

“Um,” the blonde cut him off, looking at him a bit weirdly, “English, please..?”

Eiji could feel his entire face heat up and his brain go into overdrive. He heard a snort and he looked to the side, catching sight of the short boy from just the day before. He was seated by the semi bar stool, attempting to stifle a laugh as he watched Eiji reach, what he was convinced were his final moments. He was so embarrassed he could die.

“Um.. One dozen of.. V-vanilla..” was all he could manage to say and thankfully, the blonde got to work with preparing his doughnuts right away. Eiji turned to glare at the short boy while the blonde was preoccupied, and he received a smirk back.

When he heard the machine turn on to start cooking the donuts, he sighed and settled on the stool next to the boy, who was also now preoccupied with watching the dough form into tiny holed circles. Sitting beside him was still better than standing awkwardly by the front. He didn’t even want to show himself to the blonde anymore.

His eyes roamed, trying to find something to settle on that wasn’t a blonde man. When he looked beside himself, he realized that the short boy had moved forward on his seat, still staring intently at the doughnuts. His expression resembled that of a fascinated child. He was actually quite cute. But not as cute as the blonde, of course.

Eiji was snapped out of his trance when the boy asked “What’re you looking at?”, as if insinuating a fight. He realized that he had started thinking about a certain blonde again while staring at this kid, but of course he couldn’t say that.

“Ah, it’s nothing. You just look at the doughnuts funny, like a kid.”

“I am not a—”

“Order’s ready, sir. Is this for here or to go?” Eiji jumped at the blond’s voice suddenly so near him. _Right, his donuts_ . The blonde beauty was leaned across the divider, looking at him with those stupidly long lashes. _Wow, those are pretty eyes._

He recalled the question, and basic human conventions. “Um, thanks, uh, for here. Thank you, uh,” he mumbled, reaching out for his paper bag. “T-thanks—”

He felt jolt of electricity run through his spine when his hand brushed against the other’s warmer one. Eiji had to bite his tongue to prevent from word-vomiting something stupid and embarrassing, like saying thanks for the fifth time.

The guy stared at him for two beats before retreating back to his station. Beside him, the high schooler snickered.

“Man,” the kid scooted to his space, eyeing his donuts. “That was like, two excess thanks. You dig him?”

Eiji swore to god he was this close walking out of this store.

“I could say the same to you,” Eiji mumbled, his petty self starting to emerge, which thankfully wasn’t enough for the kid to actually hear. Instead, he looked bored playing with his cellphone, not even noticing when the blonde laughed at something in his phone.

‘ _Woah that’s a pretty laugh,_ ’ was all his mind could think and he could almost hear Yut Lung sighing exasperatedly beside him.

He sat in complete silence with the highschooler, snacking on his cooling donuts, which were good by the way, the blonde stood up suddenly. In a haste, he started to collect his things, stuffing a book that Eiji hadn’t noticed was on the counter, into his bag while muttering into his phone, which was pressed between his head and shoulder.

“Hey, sorry I gotta leave early, our dick prof rescheduled our finals, now I have to get a new time slot.. yeah, sorry ‘bout this. You’re just around the corner? Thanks man, I owe you one.” Eiji could only watch as the flurry of pale skin and blond hair left the store before he could even process it.

Like clockwork, another guy went it. It was the same guy as before, with the purple mohawk and this time, he was wearing the nearby public university tracksuit.

The purple-haired guy’s entrance was Eiji’s cue to leave. It wasn’t anything personal. It was just that he wasn’t the blonde guy. He finished his last piece of doughnut before standing up to leave. He heard the mohawked guy greet the kid enthusiastically, “Hey, Sing! How’re ya, kid?”  before he left.

Sing, huh? So that was his name.

He hadn’t realized he had paused just after stepping foot out of the store, until he heard, “This is the happiest day of my week since Ash left like fifteen minutes earlier than usual,” which was followed by boisterous laughing from both of them.

So that was _his_ name. Ash. Eiji had thought his name was Shorter, thinking he owned the stall, but the name just didn’t suit his pretty face. Ash suited him much better. The mohawk guy must be Shorter. Yeah, that made a lot more sense to him.

It was then that it registered fully into his brain what he had just heard. So the kid really hung around for doughnuts? Not Ash? That had to be the only conclusion now.

Eiji couldn’t relate, but he wasn’t complaining. Maybe the kid, Sing, wasn’t so bad after all.

He’d be sure to buy him some doughnuts the next time they hung around the shop.

**Author's Note:**

> hmu @ twt if u wanna talk aus (': my handle is hyakuyatats (my gf likes to keep her stan twt private for some reason so dont try to find her)


End file.
